ROACH SAYS AMIR KHAN HAS A GOOD CHANCE AGAINST BARRERA
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Sat, 17 Jan 2009
Trainer Freddie Roach believes that 22 year old British lightweight Amir Khan (19-1, 15 KO?s) has ?a very good chance? of beating Mexican legend Marco Antonio Barrera (64-6, 43 KO?s) in their March 14 clash either at Manchester?s MEN Arena or London?s O2 venue.
Speaking to www.insidesports.ph, Standard Today and Viva Sports from his Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles, Roach said Khan would be in LA on Saturday to begin training for the fight which will be the biggest test of his young career.
Roach said he accepted the Barrera fight because ?it?s a good fight for him (Khan.) I don?t think Barrera is big enough for him at 135 pounds.?
He said Filipino boxing icon Manny Pacquiao who sparred with Khan a few times while preparing for the fight against Oscar De La Hoya ?helped his confidence tremendously? and that Khan demonstrated then that he was ?faster and sharper? than the ageing Barrera who turns 35 today.
Roach categorized the Barrera bout as ?a very good fight for a young, fast kid.?
Roach?s assessment is in contrast with those in Britain itself who believe that Khan is risking his career by taking on the seven-time world champion who turns 35 on Saturday.
After his training stint under Roach, the Olympic silver medalist returned to the ring and battered Oising Fagan to score a 2nd round TKO last December 6 to regain his confidence following a stunning 1st round KO at the hands of Breidis Prescott on September 6.
Promoter Frank Warren who put together the Khan-Barrera fight deal conceded in an interview with Sporting Life that ?Manny has been an inspiration for Amir. Manny was stopped twice earlier in his career and now he?s pound-for-pound the best in the world.?
Warren emphasized it showed how you ?can come back from adversity. Amir has the mindset of a winner and he will be a winner.? The top flight British promoter said Khan won an Olympic silver medal at 17 and six months later beat the world?s best amateur Mario Kindelan of Cuba.
Warren described Amir as ?a quality fighter? and indicated that his beating Fagan ?was good for him? even as he said he was impressed by Khan?s focus in the fight. He said ?good comes out of bad and that?s the way to look at the Prescott defeat.?
After his smashing win over Fagan who was dropped twice in the opening round Khan said that ?a lot of things I worked on in the (Wild Card) gym came off tonight. I had a hard training camp with Roach in the States and we worked a lot on my jab and being more patient and I think that showed against Fagan.?
He said Roach had worked on his jab and his defense ?but there were other things that came off as well.? Khan said he ?I usually don?t throw many right hands but it was a right hand that I scored the first knockdown with.?
Jesse Arevalo who stood in for Roach in the Fagan fight gave Khan ?almost a 10? for his performance.? He said they all thought the fight ?would go a lot longer, but Amir did a good job.
Pat Sheehan of the British newspaper The Sun says that Khan is a big fan of the Mexican who ended Naseem Hamed?s super-featherweight career eight years ago.
Khan said: ?I have youth behind me as well as the speed. I haven?t used my technique and my brain yet because I haven?t had a fight where I?ve had to ... this will be different.?
Promoter Warren said: ?It will bring out the best in Amir ? talking about Barrera put the twinkle in his eye so we?ve delivered it.?
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ronnie Nathanielsz.
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